First cricket test match was played between Australia and England 1877, and the two teams competed regularly for The Ashes in subsequent years. Then South Africa was admitted to Test status in 1889. Representative's cricket teams were selected to tour each other, resulting in bilateral competition. Cricket was also included as an Olympic sport at the 1900 Paris Games, where Britain defeated France to win the gold medal. This was the only appearance of cricket at the Summer Olympics.

 

The first multination competition at international level was the 1912 Triangular Tournament, a test cricket tournament played in England between all three Test-playing nations at the time: England, Australia and South Africa. The event was smashed due to the unexpected wet weather during that summer. The number on nations playing Test cricket increased gradually over the years, with the addition of West Indies in 1928, New Zealand in 1930, India in 1932 and Pakistan in 1952. But international cricket continued to be played as test matches over three, four or five days.

 

Way back in 1960s, English county cricket teams began playing a shortened version of cricket which only lasted for one day. Started in 1962 with a four team knockout competition known as the Midlands knock-out cup and continuing with the inaugural Gillette Cup in 1963, one day cricket grew in popularity in England. A national Sunday League was formed in 1969.

 

The first One-day International event was played on the fifth day of a rain-aborted Test Match between England and Australia at Melbourne in 1971, to fill the time available and as compensation for the frustrated crowd. It was a forty over match with eight balls per over. The success and popularity of the domestic one-day competitions in England and other parts of the world, as well as the early One-day Internationals, prompted the ICC to consider organizing a Cricket World Cup.

 

The inaugural Cricket World Cup was hosted in 1975 by England, the only nation able to put forward the resources to stage an event of such magnitude at that time. The first three events were held in England and officially known as the Prudential Cup. The matches consisted 60 six-ball overs per team, played during the daytime in official form, with the players wearing cricket whites and using red cricket balls. There were eight teams that participated in the first tournament: Australia, England, West Indies, New Zealand , India, Pakistan , Sri Lanka and East Africa. South Africa, was banned from international cricket due to apartheid during that period. The tournament was won by the West Indies, who defeated Australia by 17 runs in the final at Lord's.

 

For the first time Asia got the chance to host the cricket World Cup in 1987, and it was the first time when the competition was held outside England. One more new rule was introduced and the game was reduced from 60 to 50 overs per innings because of the shorter daylight hours in the India compared with England's summer.

 

Australia thrashed England by 7 runs in the final of this championship which was the closest margin in World Cup final history. The 1992 World Cup, held in Australia and New Zealand, introduced many changes in the game, such as coloured clothing, white balls, day/night matches and some changes in the fielding restrictions. The South African cricket team participated in the event for the first time, following the fall of the apartheid regime and the end of the international sports boycott.

 

The Test-playing nations and ODI-playing nations qualify automatically for the World Cup finals, while the other teams have to qualify through a series of preliminary qualifying tournaments which are held before World Cup Tournament. The number of teams selected through the ICC Trophy has varied throughout the years; currently, six teams are selected for the Cricket World Cup.

 

In 2009, the name "ICC Trophy" will be changed to "ICC World Cup Qualifier". The current Trophy was created for the 1999 championships, and was the first permanent prize in the tournament's history; prior to this, different trophies were made for each World Cup. The trophy was designed and produced in London by a team of craftsmen from Garrard & Co over a period of two months.

 

The tournament is one of the world's largest and most viewed sporting events, being televised by the Media in over 200 countries to over two billion television viewers. Television rights, mainly for the 2011 and 2015 World Cup, were sold for over US$1.1 billion, and sponsorship rights were sold for a further US$500 million. The 2003 Cricket World Cup matches were attended by 626,845 people.

 

For Selection, the International Cricket Council's executive committee votes for the hosts of the tournament after examining the bids made by the nations keen to hold a Cricket World Cup. Many of the tournaments have been jointly hosted by nations from the same geographical region, such as South Asia in 1987 and 1996, Australasia in 1992, Southern Africa in 2003 and West Indies in 2007. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh are going to host the 2011 World Cup.